


Salt Life

by Kameiko



Category: Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Genre: Beaches, Camping, Cliffs of Insanity, Dogs, Dolphins, F/M, Family, Fluff, Humor, Ice Cream, Loving Marriage, Music, Palm Tree Flowers, Rain, Romance, S'mores, Shopping, Tattoos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-12
Updated: 2018-11-04
Packaged: 2019-07-29 18:41:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 16,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16270097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kameiko/pseuds/Kameiko
Summary: It's time for some fun in the sun! The Jensen's style! Yeah! Malik drags her loving husband (victim) to one of the many beaches in Florida! They will be (attempting) to surf, climb (fall in the ocean of) beautiful crystal cliffs that only shine at night, wing suit off a cliff (no, Adam is putting his foot down on this, and he doesn't care that he jumps out of helicopters for a living), ride (Adam screams NO off in the distance) roller coasters, and eat (ok, Adam agrees to this one since there won't be attempted murder by nature) wonderful spicy (never mind, he's screaming off in the corner again) ice cream! All in a short few days! The two just can't wait to get there! (Adam is not screaming for help in the background, because Malik is suffocating him with a pillow!)Bark! Bark!Oh? What's this? Kubrick Jr. can't wait to try all these things too! (Adam is screaming NOOOOO!!!!) Surely, that's a joke, Mr. Jensen! Kubrick will need a doggy suit! (Silence) ...Mr. Jensen? (Crickets) ...Ok! That's all we have for today! Enjoy your vacation, Mr. and Mrs. Jensen! (Malik waves while making an unconscious Adam wave his hand too)





	1. Adam and Faridah's Magical Beach Fun Time - Part 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LilythArdat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilythArdat/gifts).



> I don't own any franchises, products, and characters mentioned in this story. My work is purely for everybody's enjoyment, and I would like to keep it that way. Having ownership over all this that requires contracts and other lawful fruitfulness is just too much responsibility. I am not ready for that kind of work, nor does my massive paycheck of $0.00 show for it in the world of fanfiction.

“Let’s go to the beach!” Faridah Jensen exclaims excitingly with hands thrown up in the air. All she’s missing is the confetti of excitement to rain down on her rolled up shirt.  

Adam perks up from his work bench to stare at his wife in disbelief. “The beach? As in the hot sun and weird feeling sand between my fingers?”

“Yep! That same sand that matches your voice.” Faridah jumps up from her spot on their bed and grabs a suitcase out of their closet, throws it on her bed, watching it flop up once before landing back down with a thud. “Get packing!”

Adam catches his clothes that the woman throws at him. The beach doesn’t sound like a bad idea, but this is random and out of left field, even for her. Not to mention they both must report back to Sarif Industries on Monday for work, and the closest beach is by the great lakes. An area that’s so polluted and disgusting…

“What’s wrong, Adam?” Faridah holds up a black and red bikini set to show her husband. Adam likes it. The giant red rose pattern on the top and bottom brings the blush out of his cheeks, and is going to look amazing on her.

“It’s…nothing.” Adam rubs his face. He’s already imagining Pritchard and Sarif’s faces…

“Don’t worry about work. I already asked Sarif if we can have up to Tuesday off.” She states this with a matter of fact tone like the whole work situation doesn’t matter.

“How long have you had this planned out?” Adam gets up from his work bench and starts packing. Grimacing at the shirts in his hands, Faridah doesn’t have good taste in men’s clothing. A floral stereotypical Hawaiian button up shirt? No. He throws it to the discard pile. One he started last month ever since Faridah started buying shirts she thinks he would like. She did get mad then it turned into an inside joke that they just decided to continue this terrible tradition.

“Since last week.” She packs several bathing suits, shades, and about five different pairs of flip flops. A girl can never have enough flip flops when it comes to the beach. She even packs about three different wing suits. How did they even fit in this suitcase?

Adam wonders where the hell they were going that has mountains to jump off? He shakes his head and picks out some wife beater tops and swimming trunks. He tries to pack them in their suit case, but the 5 pairs of flip flops are taking up all the room. Yes, the flip flops. Not the wing suits. The flip flops.

Faridah winks at Adam. “Guess you’ll have to get your own suitcase!” She pulls away the already packed to the brim suitcase.

“That’s no fair.” Adam scourges through the closet, throwing aside Malik’s running shoes, socks, a rubber ducky…wait…he stares at the yellow creatine. How did that get in the closet?!

“You found Mr. Ducky!” Faridah picks up the duck, gives it a squeeze, and throws it on top of a second suitcase she had pulled from under the bed. She needs a second one for all her regular clothes and hygiene products. She starts packing those while Adam finishes his own suitcases.

Doesn’t take Adam that long to pack. He wipes his brow and turns to see a concerned looks on his wife’s face. “What’s wrong?” He doesn’t get an answer right away, tempted to turn on his CASIE, but he knows she would throw that rubber ducky at him. It wouldn’t hurt him, because she’ll just use the next deadliest object in the bedroom.

“Did you pack enough cells and stems for yourself?” Faridah has her own _Nueropozyne_ in her hands. She knows she has enough, but she can’t help but feel for her husband. Not after what happened on their honeymoon when he didn’t have a _Hypostim_ on hand when he needed one.

Adam places a hand on his wife’s shoulder, gives her a comforting pat. “Don’t worry.” He opens the top flap of the suitcase to see he has indeed packed enough medication. He’s even packed spares for Faridah. He gently takes the _NuPoz_ from her hands, adds it to his collection, and secures the drugs with towels and bubble wrap. This seems to satisfy Faridah. She backs away from his hand, giving him a cheeky smile that reads: _of course_. Adam smirks.

Both get their stuff to Faridah’s V-TOL that lays on a specialized helipad in their backyard. Making sure everything is strapped down and secured. Sure, they could take a regular and normal airplane, but that’s no fun. No personalization and fond memories can be made while flying out of Detroit’s lovely airport. Maybe the next time the two will take a plane, just to see what’s that like. Surely once they hear a screaming kid they’ll never go back.

“Almost done! I need to make sure we have Kubrick Jr’s stuff!” She goes back inside to pack the dog stuff for their border collie: _Kubrick II_. Doesn’t exactly look like Adam’s first dog, brown and white instead of the typical black and white fur colors.

“Alright. I’ll go get the dog.” Adam goes over to Kubrick’s doghouse to see him chewing on a juicy rawhide. He leans down to the dog’s level, grabs a chew rope, and holds it up in front of the dog’s face. See if he be interested in a quick tug-of-war.

Kubrick drops his hide, grabs the other end of the rope, and tugs on it with all his might. Adam goes easy on him, not too easy, he wants Kubrick to work for it. Kubrick doesn’t seem to mind though. He growls playfully, wags his tail, and jumps side to side with the rope in his mouth.

“Adam! Stop teasing the dog!” Faridah comes back with a bag of dog supplies and a leash is hanging in her free hand.

Kubrick takes the chance to yank the rope out of Adam’s hands in victory! Adam rubs the dog’s ears at that. Kubrick jumps in Adam’s arms and licks his face when he finds that ear scratches are not enough of a gloat. Faridah takes this moment to hook the leash to the collar’s tag loop. She takes Kubrick away from Adam and gets him on the V-TOL. Adam follows suit, wiping the drool off his face.

Kubrick whimpers when one paw steps onto the V-TOL. Tail in between his legs. Seems to not like this thing. The two give him a sad glance at Kubrick’s shaking legs. They both go back to the dog and start giving him ear scratches, belly rubs, and forehead kisses. This seems to calm down Kubrick and his tail goes back into wagging mode.

Faridah lets out a sigh of relief at the calmed dog. “I’m afraid he’ll get stressed out over this ride. It’s not exactly a fun ride for animals.”

Adam agrees. “Yeah, but we’ll take landing breaks if we have to. It’s better than Kubrick being locked up in the haul of an airplane. I’ll even jump out with him if I have to.”

“Oh, how courageous and kind of you.” Faridah smiles at Adam as she gets in the driver’s seat and buckles in. “So, Florida beaches? Who wants to go to a Florida beach?”

Kubrick barks to that. Adam just gives her a worried look. He thought they were going to go one of the lakes with a beach!

“Oh, yes! Roller coaster city! Or, we can just fly to pier in-“

“No! Don’t’ you dare say the forbidden city of amusement parks!” Nothing in California that has a _Santa Monica Pier_ , hence only one but no!

“Tampa, Florida!” Faridah turns on the engine to avoid Adam’s ramblings that might lead to an argument.

God help him, he doesn’t like roller coasters. Not one bit. Not since that last event where he ended up sitting next to a bald guy in a suit on one side, and a guy with a _WD_ logo on his bandanna that covered his mouth going _wheeeeee!_ the whole way down…front row too. Something he doesn’t want to experience ever again.

Adam tries to compromise, “Do we have to ride the rollercoasters there? I’ll take the Ferris Wheel.”

Faridah huffs at that. Those things are too slow for her, but they’re romantic. Maybe when they go to Orlando they’ll ride one and enjoy the fireworks somewhere off in a speck of a distance from _Disney World_. Her head leaning against his shoulder, his arm wrapped around her shoulders, just romantic.

“I know you’re thinking about the fireworks and cheesy romantic kisses.” Adam buckles in Kubrick’s stuff. He gives the dog one last pat, hooks up the leash to one of the seat latches. Lastly, he shuts the doors to the pit. Once all the safety measures are done he bangs on the back wall to let Faridah know they’re ready.

“Roger that!” She says over his info link.

Adam jerks forward when she takes off. She’s a tad rusty since the last time they’ve flown, which is a while. No crazy conspiracy missions have landed on Adam’s desk for a couple of years now, and Sarif has no need to leave his corporation these days. All his competition just comes to him. He gets the occasional flack stack from Pritchard, Adam usually just pushes the piles into his trash can. Pritchard knows he doesn’t deal with his science crap. Sometimes Adam thinks Pritchard does this just to find his own amusement when he’s bored. One time the stack contained nothing but _Sudoku_ puzzles with a note attached telling him he needed to work out his brain more. Ever since then File 13 is where everything goes.

“Earth to Adam! Stop with the gloomy face!” Faridah taps the camera in front of her. “I can see those furrowed brows of yours.”

“Sorry, Flygirl Wife.” Adam leans back against the seat with his arms crossed, Kubrick’s nose on his lap. Might as well get some sleep and hopefully not dream of roller coasters.


	2. Adam and Faridah's Magical Beach Fun Time - Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Today is the first day of Adam and Malik's beach vacation! The day is bound to be a series of binding twists and spice goodness! Perfect for Malik's liking! For Adam's? Not so much. Maybe something good will come out of this before the late afternoon.

Adam is enjoying the fresh air, something he couldn’t get back in Detroit. The awful place smells too much of smog, cigarettes, and lactide gold paint. It sickened him to the point he had to leave. He has brought up to Faridah at one point if she would ever consider a move, away from Michigan. No dice. In fact, the look she had held screamed betrayal of her current home, he thought the looks she make when in mock horror are silly, not of being away from all their friends. She took him seriously, the only way he could’ve made it out alive of that situation is with another solution, the mentioning of moving to the suburbs where everything is normal colored, raining, and the sun is shining. Immediately her face changed into a bright smile of rosy sunshine, now on board with the whole moving idea. The only thing that Adam had to throw in-

Bark! Bark!

Right, the dog. Adam leans down on one knee, scratching Kubrick’s ears. A smile plasters his face. He is very happy that they decided to get a dog. Well, mainly the wife wanted the dog, Adam didn’t know if he wanted to. The first Kubrick dying really took a mental toll on him during recovery. One person, who Adam considered family a long time ago, looking after Kubrick during this whole trial period decided the best course of action for the dog is-

Bark! Bark!

Death. Instead of sending Kubrick to one of Detroit’s many animal shelters. Adam didn’t understand why human’s think this way when they didn’t want to deal with the responsibility they took on. With all the debates and prodding into people’s minds with his CASIE, the compassion for animals during hardships within the city, not wanting to be held responsible for what they take on as their own responsibility, or even bother to contact someone else for help goes over his head. There are options available, people just don’t take them.

BARK! BARK!

Adam holds his hands up in defense when the barking became more intense. Kubrick wants his walkies! He has his leash in his mouth, tag wagging, and ready to go out in this intense heat by one of the many secluded coastal beaches among the Florida coast. Thanks to Sarif they have this luxury. Didn’t make Adam anymore reluctant to go out there. Landing yesterday during the middle of the day made Adam’s aug's feel like they were about to fall off their electrical nerve wiring, plating, molecular blades, and all the other scientific human body applicants. The thought returning didn’t settle his mind at all. Mouth gaped open he backs away from Kubrick. He really didn’t want to go out there in that horror alone. He goes to get Faridah. She’s in their bedroom trying on her many flip flops that match her rose bikini set.

Adam sits down on the bed with his arms crossed, Kubrick at his side with that wagging tail and leash in his mouth. Adam scoots away and pretends he didn’t notice him. Kubrick whines, feeling like he did something wrong to his dad. He drops the leash and sets his snout on Adam’s lap. Adam looks down at him, sighing. He pets the dog’s head, takes the leash in his hand, and bravely stands up. Taking a deep breath, he goes to leave with his dog following. He’s only stopped when Faridah grabs his hand.

“Going out for a walk in that coat and pants? You’re only looking for a heat stroke in that pretty brain.” Faridah reals Adam back in the bedroom. She takes the leash out of his hands, places it on the bed. Kubrick instantly jumps on the bed and grabs the leash again, going back to his parents with it in his mouth. Faridah finds this persisting motion adorable. She leans down, takes the leash, and hooks it to Kubrick’s collar.

Adam doesn’t want to admit she’s right, but when she’s right, she’s right. Yesterday didn’t go well for him since he decided to wear clothes that provided no insulation for cool air. He needs to consider a cooling patch to his trench coat, of course, it’s going to be tailored by the best people in Detroit that have the most generic name ever: _Detroit’s Tailor_ with the slogan: _Drop Your Pants Here!_ And it works. On the bright side, this one didn’t mess up the threading of his newly added floral pattern to the shoulders like that last one did. They somehow even managed to catch the coat on fire. Faridah even recommended to him to have this pattern. Makes him stand out more in his work place. Sometimes Adam feels like he’s being laughed at behind his back, specifically the laughs coming from Pritchard, for such a pattern, but his wife loves it.

“Adam!” Faridah waves his hand in front of Adam’s face. She’s already stripped him down to his boxer briefs without the man even knowing it. “Put on a Hawaiian shirt decorated with toucans, and matching swimming trunks. We have a beach to walk!” She adjusts her bikini top to make the straps more comfortable and then poses with hands in the air.

“Right.” Adam looks through his suitcase he discarded to the corner yesterday. Flipping the lid open, he pulls out the opposite of what his wife said, white wife beater with black swimming shorts. He had made sure to have thrown that hideous matching set into the trash when they first landed. Lucky for him, dogs can’t tattle, because Kubrick gave him that “I’m telling” look. The only solution to times like this is dog treats.  

After applying sun block and packing some things for their walk the two are off. The waves hitting the beach with their roars, very few people walking along the waves with their feet in the water, and the beach patrol are on their four wheeler's this early making sure there’s no mischief afoot. A normal routine for beach goers, and on the richest and cleanest part too. How convenient for them. Even Kubrick is having his fun jumping in the water every now and then. Adam had to pull him back at one point when the dog tried to stick his nose to the tail of a horseshoe crab that’s out enjoying the sun. Not a pretty sight for the first day of the couple’s beach tour if the first place they had to go to is an animal hospital. However, the dog is persistent with the pool of minnows and a few regular size fish.

“Kubrick!” One of the fishes slap its tail at him, causing the dog to growl. “That’s enough!” Adam pulls Kubrick away from the water before any ocean creatures meet their demise at the mouth of the almighty dog of death cave.

After a good ten minutes of walking the two come across a small snack shack selling all kinds of ice cream and bottled water. The two sits down on the stools. The shade from the roof above them protected their hinnies from certain burns. Adam is especially thankful for this, dermal armor and hot sun on his butt didn’t go well together. It’s almost embarrassing when he had to admit that to his wife a long time ago when she asked him why he’s sitting all funny after a hot summer day of guarding Sarif at an outside press conference. Not a pleasant conversation to have.

The man behind the snack counter interrupts Adam’s thoughts, “What can I get for you two?” His hands are spread out on the counter, ready to do business. Adam can’t take him seriously, not when the man is wearing a straw hat, and has a piece of buckwheat sticking out in between his front teeth.

Faridah turns to her husband, seeing that look he wears when he is annoyed, she quickly interjects before the man’s questioning gaze makes holes in Adam’s skull. when Adam, “I see you have spicy chocolate on a cone flavor. Can you give us two of those?”   
  
BARK! PANTING! BARK!

“And if you don’t mind, a cup of water for my dog, please?” Faridah pats Kubrick’s head to calm him down a bit. She did notice his panting when they sat down. Many times, she had to stop Kubrick from drinking the ocean water.

The guy nods and goes to make the orders in question. He doesn’t even bother taking Adam’s order. He’s seen the look in Faridah’s eye when they eye dodged to Adam. No need to argue with her about it, and his comfort level went back to normal. He gives the dog his water first, then the two ice cream cones to the couple. Chocolate with a bit of paprika and a habanero pepper on top. Not bad for Faridah, but Adam thought this is going to be a lot worse than with a Carolina Reapers blazing the tip of his tongue, even if he is wrong, very wrong. One lick in, accidentally touching the pepper, he’s already wanting to dart for the ocean to dip his mouth into the salt water. Faridah’s not even affected by hers. Tasty! She loves all kinds of spicy food! She just licks hers, and enjoys Adam ordering three bottles of water, downing them all quickly. How pathetic. Can’t even get through a single pepper that’s not even the world’s hottest pepper. She takes the pepper off her ice cream and bites into it, making Adam choke on his water.

“What? Can’t handle a little spice, Sugar Boy?” Faridah pours more salt on his wounds with that. A grown man can handle a band of bad guys and tyrant mercs but can’t handle a little spice. Why in the world did she even marry him again? Sometimes his fun level is not on par with hers when it comes to the least dangerous entertainment. That’s not a problem for her. They love each other the way they are and would never do anything that would upset their balance.

“I rather fight the Tyrants hyped up on steroid augments then taste that concoction ever again.” Adam throws the cone in the trash, water bottles in the recycling. Shivering at the sight of the pepper he threw on the ground, just don’t look at it. Turning away from the toe of Satan, he walks away from the stand with Kubrick. Faridah follows him, continuing to eat her ice cream in mockery.

However, Adam is not sure where he wants to go from here, or what they can do. Having one bad experience this early of the day makes him want to just go back to their hotel and rest for the remainder of the day. He knows he can’t do that, Kubrick is going to want to play, and his wife is going to want to do some surfing. Not that he’s ever seen her surf, but he’s never seen her jump off a mountain before either.

Faridah stops Adam before his head swells, “Let’s collect seashells. I promise it’s safe and involves no sky diving into a Scrooge McDuck vault.” That would hurt if they did that, and probably cause them to die with all those pointy ridges digging into their skin, maybe a concussion or two.  

“Want to make garlands or necklaces out of them or something?” Adam takes Kubrick off his leash. He watches the dog run circles around them, eventually digging his nose into the sand, maybe looking for a shell bone or something. No ruses involved, please.

“An ankle bracelet. I have some vanilla rose colored jewelry pieces I like to use. Combining them with tiny shells is going to make it look perfect!” Faridah leans down, picks up a tiny white shell, and shows Adam what she’s talking about.

The shell really is small. Not like the typical normal looking half pieces. Maybe they’ll even find some dried-up sand dollars and small shark teeth. That be a cool addition to Faridah’s ankle bracelet idea. Kubrick has other ideas in mind while the humans gather such girly things. He wants to dig the greatest moat in the waters of this doggy uncharted wet sand. Dig! Dig! Dig! Dig until he can dig no more, then he rolls around in it. Getting his fur filled with muddy sand. His owners are carelessly not even paying attention to him. Too busy awing at the shells filled with little creatures.

Faridah places the living shells back in the water. She’s satisfied with what she and Adam collected. Turning back to Kubrick, “Alright, Kubrick-KUBRICK!”

Kubrick rolls back on all fours with his tail wagging behind him. He barks once at his mom in happiness. He really doesn’t see what he’s done wrong, and her facial features look like she’s screaming in joy! He jumps up on her, making her drop all the shells she’s gathered. Adam quickly goes over to the dog and pulls him off her before his eagerness causes her to fall over on said shells. They don’t need sore butts with indentations while on this vacation! Quickly his leash is placed back on the loop of the collar. He starts running in circles around Adam, causing him to get tangled up in the rope. Faridah is trying not to laugh as she picks up the shells.

“This is not funny, Faridah!” Adam is tempted to take out his arm blade and just cut the leash off. The way he is about to fall over makes him look like he belongs in a funny cartoon with the way the wheels on the bus are spinning.

“Hold on.” Faridah stops Kubrick. “Sit.” He sits. She untangles Adam from the bindings of the leash.

Adam straightens his clothes out and makes sure that Kubrick can’t get tangled around him again. He gives a playful glare at the dog. Kubrick can’t see the glare behind Adam’s shades. He just continues his walk forward back to their hotel. He’s completely unaware of the fun bath he is going to get. Adam and Faridah know this will not be fun for them. They’ll have to clean up the bathroom afterwards. Maybe there’s a hose out by the pool area, or at least a cleaning station.

They arrive back at the hotel, going around back they do notice a cleaning station, no hose. Adam hooks the leash handle on the pole hook. He turns on the water, gives the dog a quick rinse. He knows it’s not enough for Kubrick due to all the caked in sand. Adam tells Faridah to go out and buy the stuff they need to clean the dog. She does.

Adam glares again at the wet dog. “Just you and I, boy.” He makes scary hand motions that resemble claws, leaning forward with them. Kubrick stares mysteriously at them in awe. He’s not even afraid of them! His dad always gives him belly rubs with those alloyed hands! To prove that, Kubrick rolls on his back.

How can Adam stay mad at this face and cuteness? He can’t. Faridah soon returns with the said materials, notices how friendly the two are being towards one another. Good. Faridah didn’t want to break up a playing dog fight or something. She’s afraid Adam would have playful bite marks into his augs. Speaking of marks…

“Hey, Adam.” Faridah smiles mischievously. Adam didn’t like that. That smile of hers can lead to some deadly snow boarding off Mt. Everest, or they go snorkeling at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, knowing Faridah she can make both possible without either of them dying.  

Doesn’t make Adam any less scared to ask, “…Yes?”

Faridah pops open the cap to the doggy shampoo, she starts rubbing it all over Kubrick, whose fur is now completely covered in a foam of bubbles. “You fancy a new tattoo?”

Not the worse idea she’s ever come up with. He did have at one point have a rifle station tattoo on his bicep as a camaraderie token. He wouldn’t mind another one with Faridah this time, but is this really a good idea? It’s normally a bad taboo to have matching tattoos as it is to get a significant other’s name. Still, he’s intrigued, and if this beats ice fishing for Moby Dick then so be it. “Sure. What did you have in mind?”

“SKULLS!” Faridah yells loudly. Scaring the dog in the process, and making Adam retract his shades to show her that’s a negative. “Relax, I am only kidding. I like to get something rose related. You can get whatever you want.”

“Your love for flowers never dies.” Adam gives Faridah a light-hearted smile.

“Never. I also found the perfect tattoo shop while in town. They even do tattoos on augments.” Faridah touches Adam’s right arm. Giving it a light comforting squeeze. She knew of Adam’s story and the SWAT departments corruption. “I also left my purse there on accident.”

Adam looks down at his wife’s hand, for now, ignoring her recklessness. Her golden rose wedding ring shining brightly in the sun. He in turn stares down at his golden wedding band on his augmented ring finger. Turning he links her hand with his and gives her a light kiss on the lips. He leans his head down on top of hers, smiling. “Alright, let’s do this, and while we walk there I am going to give you a talking to about not leaving your purse at departments, so you have an excuse to go back to them.”

BARK! BARK! STOP IGNORING ME! I’M STILL SODDED HERE! BARK! BARK!

The two pull away and turn to look at the foamy dog. He’s mad that he hasn’t been rinsed yet! He’s been sneezing snot soap bubbles here! Where’s the petting!? As if the two can read Kubrick’s thoughts, the two pet the dogs head in apologies and get to finishing their cleaning. The two will have to talk about leaving purses behind later. For now, they have a very mad brown and white border collie to attend to.


	3. Adam and Faridah's Magical Beach Fun Time - Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adam is dreading getting a tattoo. In fact, he says he will die if he gets one. He really didn't say that, but this is how he feels. Where's his knightress in shining armor to save him from this ill smelling place? Oh, she's off in the corner giggling at his misery and torment. Thanks, wife. He loves you too!

The tattoo parlor stinks of an odd chlorine like substance mixed with alcohol that ear pierce's use to clean off the oozing puss. It’s disgusting. Adam can’t even fathom what made Faridah want to lose her purse in such a place, keyword “lose” used loosely. Her mischievous behavior is going to cause Adam to have non-life-threatening health problems. Nether the less, he let her look at the tattoo books, not that he can stop her. Knowing her, she’s probably going to go with the colorful roses. Hopefully just simple and a basic pretty pattern. Adam thinks he might be pushing his luck with these thoughts, she’s looking at the advance books with naked girls showing their backs and tail bones with demon tails and horns attached to their beautiful bodies. Not his kind of sexy.

“Please tell me you’re not going to be cheating on me with these demon ladies.” Adam is picking at her. He knows she’s not really going to choose this over good taste…right? The wink and giggly attitude is not reassuring. Maybe the rush of sterile alcohol is starting to affect her brain, time to get her out of here and back to her fur baby! Lucky for him her purse is still on the counter. He can run out with it and she will be forced to follow him. Yeah, sounds like a good plan. A playful beating with said purse will be in his future but a good plan non-the less.

Alas, she’s too quick for him. She grabs her purse and goes to sit in one of the free waiting chairs, she flips through a different tattoo book that holds tribal symbols and of course….roses. She seems to be interested in the dark blue ones. Different from her usual style of red. Not that Adam wouldn’t mind seeing her tattooed on her body. He thinks about a blue pattered branching off on tree branches instead of stems on her rib cage, some petals flowing off into the wind, going up her back in a beautiful windy pattern that shows off her curves…

“What are you thinking about, sunshine?” Faridah flips through another page, making mental notes of some audacious ones only to stop on a page of guns wrapped around thorns, skulls, roses, and even the occasional blood splatter is attached to the craziness. Definitely not something Faridah can picture herself in. Even if the colors are something to her taste. This reminds her of the time that Adam mentioned about his own gun tattoo. Would he consider even getting any of these as a replacement? She knows about his bad past, but…she shows the tattoos to Adam, pointing to a very tacky one with a naked lady sitting on top of the gun, bonus side breast and a tattooed gun on her back.

“Tattoo inception doesn’t fit my taste.” He takes the book out of her hands, flips through it hoping to find something he’s willing to tattoo on himself that will not result with three lumps on his head. He did do this for his comrades back then he can do it for his wife. Maybe he can find something. Something that’s not exactly a target for his enemies. Maybe…an alcohol bottle? He stops on the page that’s filled with all kinds of design bottles. All from the typical crossbones that represent poison to _Nye’s Rye_ , his favorite kind of non-lethal poison.

Faridah pulls the book out of his hands. “Alcohol? Might as well get a rat tattooed next to it. Find something more of your taste.” She picks up another book from one of the tables. It’s full of black and gold designs. Some with different shapes, tribal, and fantasy fat line textures. Now here’s an idea for Faridah! She pulls a notepad and pen out of her purse, and doodles down a dragon with dark blue roses surrounding it…merged with it. At least it’s not bleeding from the mouth and with tattooed organs showing through skin behind it due to its claws pulling at the skin. Adam likes it like this, stick figure dragon with misshapen petals, there’s even a smiley face!  

Faridah smacks him in the arm when she sees that cocky smile. “You think you can do better? Fine. Draw what you want tattooed on yourself. You have to use what you draw as the design.” That’ll teach him. Not that she would make him tattoo his horrible drawing on his body, she just wants to mess with him a bit for trying to be too keen for his own good, and she’s also hoping the drawing turns out worse than hers.

“Deal.”

This surprises Faridah. She didn’t expect him to agree to something this stupid or at least he pops out that CASIE aug on her! Adam takes out a page from the book followed by a blank one. He places the blank page from the back of the book on top of one of the black and gold roses. He starts…tracing. Faridah feels a bit duped by the scene, but she feels that Adam forgot about one thing….

“You do realize the black will not show up well on your arm?” Faridah points to the black petals. Indeed, they won’t, but that doesn’t stop Adam’s creativity. He pulls out a blue pen from Faridah’s purse, getting a playful glare in the process for going into it, and starts filling in the spots where the black is supposed to be. Once finished, he holds it up for his wife to see…and he sees a pout. Maybe if he lets her put her chicken scratch dragon on here she wouldn’t be as jealous of his craftsmanship as she is now?

“You’re not doing yourself any favors.” She takes the paper from him. His tracing is so much better than her freehand! She crumbles it up and throws it in the trash can behind her. She hopes his pride is hurt a bit, it’s not. He still has that smug smile on his face. Time to go to war…or not. Adam is already at the front desk talking about the tattoos they’re getting. She stands next to him, intended on giving her a piece of her mind!

The man behind the counter looks at the two’s drawing, ignoring the piece of the ladies’ mind in the process, trying to make out what the heck the two even want. “So, a cartoon dragon tangled in a bed of roses? Ma’am, do you want us to make the claws look like they’re stretching out skin to show muscle underneath?”

Faridah shakes her head no as she’s pulling out her wallet to pay for both of their tattoos, a break for Adam, who is also not complaining since they have a joined bank account.  “I want a realistic looking dragon with dark blue roses wrapped around him.” The smiley dragon is a he now. Nice to know for Adam and the artist. Maybe make it a little pink, light blue, and black here with manly looking eyes with a clawed hand under the snout, and resting its elbow on a flower petal, making him look like he’s in a thinking pose. Realistically cartoonish in a sense, not bad at all, savor the choice of colors, but this is what Faridah wanted.

As soon as the bandage is on Faridah’s arm Adam is in the chair. Rolling up his short sleeve he shows the artist where he wants his tattoo, upper carbon fiber bicep, where his old rifle tattoo used to be. Not saying anything more, the tattoo artist pulls out special tools that are meant for augs. After applying the design to Adam’s arm, the artist gets started right away. Adam, on the other hand, is not ready for this. The pain he is feeling is strange, and not the good kind. He grits his teeth, bearing the pain through the whole process. By the end of it he rather be somewhere else doing something less painful, like a battle against one of Detroit’s gangs or standing on top of a barrel of fire.

“Oh, it’s all over you big baby! You only cried a little bit.” Faridah makes a wipe away tear motion with her fingers and closed eye.

“My pride is still intact.” Adam gets out of the seat faster than Faridah has ever seen him moved. No need to bandage the inked alloy on his arm. It dries off right away, and the good news is there’s no chance of infection. No need for one when an open flesh wound can’t exist. He just feels a bit funny, almost like a chunk of his arm is not there. He’ll have to go to a LIMB clinic later to get his arm checked out if the strange sensation doesn’t stop feeling like an empty void.

The two leave the tattoo shop after getting their treatment kit, both satisfied with their decision to get similar tattoos. The dark blue ink mixed with the gold really did shine on Adam’s arm. Hopefully it stays that way when they go back to Detroit. They do deserve the bragging rights when all you see is a filter filmed over your eyes from all the yellow paint. After all, it’s a golden age in their town, and they want the world to know that they’re going to bring their own color with them!

Bark! Bark!

Right, Kubrick needs to be attended to. The shop didn’t allow animals inside other than service dogs. The poor thing had to have his leash tide up to one of the poles outside. Not to worry, Faridah pulls out a plastic cup from her purse with a bottle of water. Adam wonders how she can come so prepared. The lady places the cup down in front of Kubrick and pours the heat ridden dog some juicy water. Kubrick is thankful and laps the water up quickly.

Bark! Bark!

Kubrick wags his tail in satisfaction as his mom unties him from the post. The dog knows he’s only been out here for an hour, but to him that felt like an eternity. The two set back off to their hotel where a nice rest is awaiting all three of them, then a thought occurs to Adam…

“Hey, Faridah, it just occurred to me that we can’t go surfing now.”

The number one rule of new tattoos: avoid contact with water as much as possible; especially, chlorine and salt variants.  

“That’s ok! We can still go skydiving and climb the crystal cliff!”

What a relief. Adam thought that Faridah would be disappointed and-wait, what? Skydiving? Rock climbing…onto literal shiny rocks? Adam is unsure that he heard his wife correctly.

“Mind repeating that?”


	4. Adam and Faridah's Magical Beach Fun Time - Part 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adam is not the _Brave Little Toaster_ and Malik is not the _Brave Heart Lion_.
> 
> But Darn it, today they're going to be!

Nah Ah! No way! Not in a million years! Waving hands around to signal a Baseball version of Safe! Adam rather have an endless nightmare of being on a roller coaster sitting next to a giant pink headed cat scientist with a Cheshire smile than wing suiting off the highest cliff near the ocean. He has his arms crossed and looking off in the distance, ignoring Faridah’s constant prodding and puppy eyes. Just hide behind the menu, Adam. She won’t see you, and maybe this will blow over soon.

Bark! Bark!

Plus, they have Kubrick to look after! There’s no way they can leave the dog alone on the shore, and they would have to walk all the way back to the hotel then right back here. By the time they get back there Adam will be tired, face planting on the bed, and use every excuse in the book to Faridah to make her go on her own. He’ll even take a pillow beating to the head if it gets him out of this situation! There is absolutely no way he is going through this! What about their tattoos?! They’ll get ruined! He doesn’t care about the protective covering that _Versalife_ invented just for these situations! Truth be told, Adam thinks that Faridah has been hiding this secret this whole time to make him think that he’s safe! He is not safe! Why couldn’t the stupid company just stick with coffee machines?  

Bark! Bark!

Kubrick runs around the two in eagerness. He wants his walkies! Frisbee throws! Play time! Not this brooding crap that his dad is shining off on him. It’s spreading to his mom too! He flops over on his side and grimaces, not liking this one bit. Pouty mom, avoidable dad, boringness. His parents are so lame! At least now is a good time for a nap while the two just sit there, drinking coffee, slowly….why can’t humans just lap at their cups like normal unevolved monkey’s? 

Adam is still hiding behind his menu while Faridah tries to get him to listen, foot going up his leg in hopes to get the man to put down the menu and see her cheeky smile. That beautiful smile will not work! He might jump out of helicopters for a living, but there is no way he will be jumping off a cliff and fly into God knows what kind of waters. Yes, the waters around the crystal cliff are deemed safe but are they really? Sounds like the coast guard just makes things up, so unexpected tourist come to spend their credits, and get constant head injuries with crystal imprints…or lethal implants.

“Come on, Adam!” Faridah takes the menu out of his hands. “If you don’t want to sky dive off the highest part of the cliff then how about a dive? I’ve seen people jump off that middle part of that cliff on the way over here and having fun. I think you’re over thinking this with your weird irrational fear. You’ve jumped off cliffs higher than that!” She points behind her.

Yeah, this is true, but none of them led to an ocean! All were on flat ground and not surrounded by deadly sea creatures like…sharks! Yes, sharks! The sharks can come over to their area and take a chomp off his augmented arm, then he wouldn’t be able to hold Faridah and tell her so. These thoughts are plaguing his mind worse than the roller coasters that carried those strange people! He never asked for this!

“Adam?” Faridah flicks him on his forehead. “The waitress here is trying to take your order.”

“Oh…right.” Adam turns to the waitress. He places his order with her, and then goes back to his having mental gymnastics over sharks and deadly waters. Deadly waters! What if there are rip tides as well? Will he be able to swim parallel to the shore fast enough? Will there be scary cats and bald men in suits swimming with him? Oh God, what if one of them try to save him or worse…eat him and use his augmentations as toothpicks!

“No more cereal before bed time for you. You’re starting to sweat.” Faridah takes the water and bowl from the waitress, that just came back, and places it down next to Kubrick. One nice iced cold drink in a bowl for a thirsty dog!

Kubrick happily drinks it up before settling back down again by his mom’s feet. A nap is in order since he figures they’ll be here for a while arguing over some weird plastic protection for their funny paintings on their body. Probably will get dark out knowing how his dad will procrastinate everything that he is against. If he gets his dinner later tonight, that is, then the two can argue after meal time. This better not interfere with breakfast and morning walkies!  

“I don’t want to do any of these things.” Adam’s leg starts to twitch. Moving up and down, occasionally hitting the underside of the table while Faridah applies the bandages.

Faridah sees this afterwards and quirks an eyebrow at the behavior. Adam really is afraid here. Well, she can easily understand this, having a set of her own fears and all. Some of them might even be silly to Adam. Maybe even sillier than weird people likeness. Sitting up fully in her chair, she takes Adam’s hands into her own. She leans over, touching her forehead against his, she confesses…

She doesn’t even look at Adam when she says this, eye closed, “ _Care Bears_ scare me; especially, that dopey lion.”

Adam is dumbstruck. Out of all things to be afraid of, cute bears with symbols on their belly that represent their personality is not on his high priority list or list. Really, this is absurd. “Does the _Brave Heart_ _Lion_ keep you up at night? He’s supposed to be brave, and I am brave, so-”

“If you ever think about dressing up as one of those furry things I will hit you with an orange and then divorce you.” She left out one important fact that Adam is ridiculing over her about, she leans back in her seat, applying her own bandage. “And they’re the cousins of those creepy bears! That lion with its _L'Oréa_ _l_ mane is NOT a bear! It’s a wannabe creep!”

“Does the _Brave Little Toaster_ also scare you?” Adam gets a light kick in the shin. He winces as the mighty toes with sharpened nails try to scratch at his augmented leg. Thank the Lord almighty that they can’t leave any scratches, or someone help him Faridah will make sure they could.

“That toaster did everything in his power to overcome his fears! You’re now going to conquer yours for that comment! We do this together!” Faridah stands up tall and proud. Adam’s never seen her in this light before, and it only took a little persuasion of oddness.

Before he knew it, the meals that they haven’t even received yet are paid for, he’s being dragged back to the hotel with their lovely fur son tailing behind them. What did Adam even do to get into this mess? And how is the lion and toaster any different? They’re both brave! He just makes a mental note to himself: don’t mock the wife about any of her fears, they lead to serious and dangerous cliff diving experience. He’s even been forced changed into his swim trunks and sun screen is splatted harshly on  by his wife’s right hand. She really seems either determined or mad, he’s undecided as of now.

“Let’s go!” She grabs his arm again, dragging him out, with the dog following them. She stops when Kubrick lets out a bark. “Sorry, boy. You can’t come with us this time, but tomorrow we’ll go on a lot of walkies! We’ll even go up and down the coast of Florida just for you!”

The coast of Florida? From here to the Florida Keys or more up North to Georgia? Adam’s calculating in his head about how much the repairs for new legs will be when they fall off from over working them, using Sarif’s funds of course, but not even in battle do his legs get this treatment! He must protest! He goes to speak his mind, but his wife is giving him that “shut up and conquer the world” look. He closes his mouth again, and they’re off to the cliff.

“This will be so much fun!” Faridah shows him the giant cliff of crystals. He didn’t even notice the pathway from before where a few people are already climbing the make shift steps, going to jump to their deaths like the stupid people they are, not even worrying about the krakens.  

“I am not jumping off that.” Adam puts his feet in the wet sand in hopes to stop Faridah. This doesn’t work. He’s just tracking mud all over his feet.

Soon they’re in the shallow sandbar water area by the steps. The God-awful steps filled with all kinds of algae and coral life. It’s…it’s…it’s disgusting! Yes, disgusting is the only word he can think of, while his brain is screaming at him to stop lying to himself and run far away. He doesn’t even realize he’s being dragged up the steps, because he’s so busy trying to argue with his brain that his wife will push his face into a set of crystals poking out of the wall.  

“We’re here!” Faridah lightly shoves Adam to the top. They’re now overlooking the whole beach; tiny specks of people are idly below them walking around.

“OH MY GOD!” Adam backs away from the edge of insanity. “You jump off, and I’ll just wait-“

She jumps off without another word. She didn’t even give him a spare glance as she crashes into the water below screaming: For the evil _Care bears_! How honorable that she dives into her fears filled with literal chompers. It’s admirable to a degree as well, and something he really could use considering his wife is much braver than he is. Just not today. He goes over to the steps and starts to slowly descend downwards till he bumps into some other daredevils.  

“Can’t come down this way, man. It’s a one way up.” One of the guys points behind him where others are starting to make their ascension into insanity.  

“I can easily pass by them.” He thinks he can. The steps really can’t hold another person side by side. One might accidentally fall and hit one of the rocks on their way down.

“You really don’t want to do this, don’t you? It’s ok. When I jump I can go get someone to come rescue you.” The guy is just trying to be helpful, but to Adam, this makes him feel more vulnerable and a coward, which he is neither! He’s faced the Tyrants! Pritchard’s nagging! He can do this! He peers over the edge again…Nope. He can’t do this.

“I am not…afraid and I don’t need saving.” Adam starts going back up the steps, reaching the top again. He sees speck Malik below, at least he thinks that is her. Her voice is carrying over into his I-link now to confirm it is.

“Come on, Adam! Just think about the evil people sitting around you on the roller coaster! Should it out to the sky and jump! That’s how I did it.” Faridah tries to encourage him. She’s not sure if she’s doing a good job or not. She’s not.

The guy stands next to him. “I heard her shout out how evil the _Care Bears_ are. While I disagree with her on them being evil, shouting your fears out while jumping does make the fall a little easier. Watch me, first timer.”

The man looks over the edge with nervousness and fear. Adam has a slight doubt he will even go through with it. Anyone shaking at the knees that badly doesn’t deserve too, he should speak for himself, all his augs feel like they’re shaking. The man is already making a running jump and in he goes with a stumble, but he quickly recovers with a somersault and shouts…

“Seahorses give me nightmares, because of their body shape!”

Now, that’s an even worse irrational fear and a bit silly. Adam will show this guy that acted like a noob! He can do this! A courage boost! Maybe he can do this! He backs away a bit, bends the knee gets into a running jump, and…! ….He stops at the edge, nearly losing his balance. He just can’t do it! Courage is not his name! Oh, someone will have to send the coast guard to rescue him after all! Maybe he can climb to the very top of this cliff and send out a make shift flare from his augs or something. Maybe-

“Here, let me help you!” The other guys friend pushes him off. “Bon voyage, Courage!”

Adam screams all the way down, making a giant belly flopping splash, ow. This is going to hurt in the morning, evening, and all the way till next Tuesday. He emerges from the water, spitting some out of his mouth. Faridah is right by his side with a worried look on her face.

“Are you ok, Adam?” Faridah looks over him to see if there’s any broken body parts or augs. None that she can see. That’s a relief at least. “Let’s get you to shore. Start swimming. I’ll help you.”

“I’m…fine.” Adam starts swimming with ease to shore, ignoring the stinging pain in his abdomen.

Faridah is following, and swimming around him, making sure that he is not about to pass out or throw up. Once to shore she looks over Adam again to see if there’s any external damage she couldn’t see before. Nothing. This is good. This is really good. “Sorry, Adam. I shouldn’t have made you go through with that or watch your coffee come out of your mouth.”

“Are you kidding? I want to do that again.” He gets an excited rush running through him. “I didn’t get a chance to shout my fear at the top, due to an unfortunate accident, so I have to do it again.”

Adam rushes back towards the steps without another word, climbing them quickly to the top. Faridah ends up smiling at this, and shouting at him to slow down before he trips!

They reach the top again. “Does this mean you’ll wear a wing suit with me?”

“No.”

Worth a shot. Faridah is just glad that Adam is taking this well. If he’s this excited now, then she can’t wait to see what his face looks like when it’s night time.   


	5. Adam and Faridah's Magical Beach Fun Time - Part 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Star Gazer, enjoy the starry night with your significant other before you become a giant chocolate bar.

Night has fallen from the sky. Beautiful stars gazing above the ocean, each in their own serene compact of space with no major night light buildings to wash them out, not that the obstructions can. Only way this can happen is if there are somehow 50 story buildings in the middle of the ocean, like Hengsha for example. Adam is thankful that said city is not here. He can peacefully sit on the very top of the crystal cliff to watch the night sky with his wife. All that is missing is a lit bonfire just for the two of them. Lucky for them there are remains of a circle fire pit containing ashes and mossy rocks surrounding said ashes. Not the greatest remains to use, though they still need dried branches, or just scrape off some of the moss. That can work. Adam scrapes off some moss from one of the rocks and places it in the pit. Taking out his arm blade he scrapes the molecular mechanic against one of the rocks causing sparks to appear. The sparks soon light the moss, causing a nice small fire to pitifully rise and stay in this state. The fire cannot get any bigger, because of the minimal amount of material being used.

“This is ok.” Faridah scoots over to Adam and huddles against his warm body, head leaning against his shoulder, smile on her face, eyes closed, the works. In return, he wraps his arms around her, kissing the top of her head. This must be alright for her. She has the view of the crystals below whenever she chooses to look over the edge, a sky above full of her dreams with a grounded husband to make sure he catches her when she falls. Now she really wishes she could bring her V-TOL out here, above Adam. Flying above the clouds, through the stars, and maybe see some mythical dragons flying next to her. An amazing dream. Adam will probably defend below by making sure the dragons stay at a faraway distance with two extended arm blades and typhoons ready to go, she wouldn’t mind that. She loves her husband enough to admire all the ways he can protect her.

“This fire will not warm us.” Adam ruins the moment by stating the obvious answer instead of thinking about the obvious opportunity! He needs to start wishing that he had some marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate bars. The mood does call for it. How about thinking about some campfire songs? There must be a music shop open at this hour to buy an acoustic out of tuned guitar. Think, Adam. What about ghost stories? It’s summer, but…the story about a scary experienced jumping off this cliff has already been spoken out by action earlier today, in real life, not really that scary when one thinks about it. Just makes for a very sarcastic and humorous tale to tell their future kids. Would he really want to tell their kids about this? Probably not, just tell the dog. He wouldn’t understand what’s going on anyways with nothing but walkies and chew toys on his mind. But Faridah? She will tell everyone including the next four generations of Malik’s and Jensen’s, she will live that long, Adam just knows it, Faridah knows it, and Pritchard will somehow use this against him when she tells him and Sarif will be sending messages on their computer asking about his future grand kids.

“We’ll have to leave this area soon; we can’t exactly sleep here.” Faridah face turns into a look of sadness when she says this out loud. They really can’t sleep under this mildly windy starry night, they would freeze. She looks up, watching the moon shine brightly in the night sky is only making her temptation to stay become more of a reality than dying by the chills. She needs to think straight with her brain and not her nostalgia. She really can get the V-TOL up here with all the supplies they need, bring Kubrick too! If he wants to even step a foot back inside that thing. A whimpering sad little brown border collie is pictured in her mind, he might not like being this high up either. If domestic animals ever look over the edge and see this, they’ll want to huddle far away from this and into the arms of their humans. Not really an idle place for dogs.

“I won’t stop you from getting the V-TOL, but….” Adam wants to mention the s'mores thing, but it might be too much stress on her after her dive to gather stuff they don’t really need. He doesn’t want her to load all the cargo by herself while he guards some puny campfire. He goes to makes suggestion but is silenced by her finger on his lips.

“I’ll go get the stuff.” She winks at him. She gets up and makes her way down to the middle part of the cliff, where they were jumping off earlier. She wants to dive down but knows the hypothermia will get to her with how cold the water is at night. She opts in for climbing down the steps, making her way across the shallow part of the water, making sure it’s just her toes that are getting wet. Once on the shore she turns around to see how amazing the crystals are, the light sourced bugs are circling around them making them gleam.

Adam sighs as he watches his speck of a wife walk off to the hotel through his augmented vision. He really doesn’t like being alone up here, alone with his thoughts. Ever since he became a married man he realized that he couldn’t push the person he loves to the backseat anymore without a fight. She’s going to want to get more involved with the dangerous parts of his daily life besides driving him around everywhere like a limousine driver on call that he can realistically get through a press of a button on an app. He knows she’s going to be sick of just driving eventually. How is he going to tell her that she still can’t come with him on these dangerous missions outside of her driving him to said deadly missions? He knows these thoughts are not making his mental situation improve, but he nearly lost her in Hengsha, and he doesn’t want to experience that painful moment ever again. He will put those _Belltower_ scumbags six feet in the ground next time instead of knocking them out. He loves her too much. Anyone in a bad situation would protect their significant other through the skies and the oceans, even if they hated the protection by protesting that it’s too extreme. He would have to worry about that bridge when they crossed it, right now Faridah has returned with the V-TOL. Parking it a few feet away from their camp spot. Adam puts his worried thoughts to the back of his head and gets up to help her unload.

“I even read your mind about bringing the secret ingredients.” She’s holding the snacks up in the air with glee. She had the same idea as Adam. No campfire is complete without the traditional gooey campfire snacks.

“Did you read my mind to bring tree branches?” He hopes she brought the mandatory twigs. He really didn’t want to put fluffy squares on one of his arm blades, not that it would be able to even hold them. They’ll get sliced in half before a tiny portion even gets on the edge of the blade or explode.  

“Yep!” Faridah pulls out two long and sturdy branches that are bending over. Ok, wimpy branches for a wimpy campfire, but who needs strong and endurance? Nothing should fall off if the snacks are placed on their counterparts correctly.

“Need any help?” Adam manages to get his on with ease, but his wife seems to be having a bit of trouble. Her already bending over branch keeps bending over more, just enough for the fluff to fall into the campfire. The bright side is that the fire is growing.

“No.” In frustration she throws the branch to the side, no need to eat s'mores when she can just eat the chocolate straight out of the package. The side chocolate, a girl’s best friend and last resort. She unwraps the bar and stuffs a piece in her mouth, a content smile returns to her lips. Indeed, this is a girl’s best friend. The best and most non-replaceable food in the world. If Adam Jensen suddenly becomes a giant chocolate bar, he will be at the top of her list for food consumption instead of second.

“Suit yourself.” He pulls her close to him anyways, while he roasts and slowly getting the fire to burn up with the little amount of dry wood Faridah brought back. He turns his head back to the V-TOL to see if they still need to unpack things. The beach blanket, pillows, and throw over blanket are sitting comfortably in their spot. Looks like Faridah really does want to spend the night under the stars. He gently moves her off him, he gets up and brings back the remaining equipment and sets up everything. Faridah instantly moves to the beach blanket, lying her head down onto one of the pillows, stares up at the stars again, still with that smile, and finishes the last piece of chocolate from her bar in her mouth.

Adam brings over his s'mores. He hands a sticky one to her, and she takes it instantly, popping half of it into her mouth. She lets out a mild squeak due to it being a tad hot. The chocolate is starting to dribble all over her chin. She takes it out of her mouth to examine how sticky she is, she wishes she brought a towel.

“Need a towel?” Adam rips off a small part of the throw over.

She is thankful for Adam’s thoughtfulness and will put the thought of him ruining a nice blanket to the back of her mind. “Thanks. I hope I don’t ruin the rest of the night because of my love for chocolate.”

He didn’t answer her. His thoughts are venturing towards an aw inspiring idea. The woman loves roses and chocolate, right? So why not find a chocolate shop around here, buy her a fused combination of the two, and surprise her tomorrow after she gets back from taking Kubrick on his walk? Yeah, that’ll work. She’ll swoop into his arms, confessing her undying love for him again, and the moment will end with a kiss, a spotlight, and clapping from the invisible audience. Smiling, Adam lays down next to Faridah, brushing a few strands of stray hair out of her face.

“Judging by your silence, I assume you want to steal my chocolate to make sure I don’t wake up in a messy soup of gooeyness.” Out of playful spite, she takes Adam’s s'more sandwich out of his hand, and chomps on that one too, making a mess with crumbs everywhere in the process. Rude.

“I am not going to steal your chocolate like you just did. I lead by example and not by sudden urges.” He gets a light smack to the arm for that comment. “What? It’s true. Women are evil when it comes to their chocolate.”

Faridah sticks her crumb covered tongue out at him. She doesn’t care. He’s not going to get any bite of this graham cracker! Not at all! She turns over on her side and continues to eat, ignoring Adam’s curious eyebrow. He’ll have to remember this mood forever now, won’t he? However, for now, star gazing is the only thing on his mind. Turning onto his back, hands behind his head, he extracts his shades, and lets himself enjoy this moment.


	6. Adam and Faridah's Magical Beach Fun Time - Part 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Messes that need to be cleaned up due to very good dogs.

Breakfast is going well. Both are eating their omelets with chives and jalapenos in a complete bliss state while plotting what presents they’re going to buy for one another. They don’t even realize they’re thinking the same thing, that’s ok. Sometimes they need their morning thoughts kept to themselves. Just sip on some good coffee and listen to the dog loudly lapping up the water from his bowl, ruining the peaceful mood moment. How cheeky of Kubrick. He turns his head to see his parents staring at him with a weird expression that represents…walkies? Walkies! To Kubrick every expression means walkies. His tail starts wagging, and waddles over to his mom’s legs, a happy sight to see. All that’s missing is a leash in his mouth and guilt given whimpering. 

“Alright, alright. Just let me finish my eggs first. Is that ok?” Faridah pats the dog on the head. In turn he gives her a satisfactory bark, because she’s not getting up right away to take him for a walk. Faridah rolls her eyes knowing that her own dog just gave her the semi-ok-bark of approval. For that he deserves a treat, she needs to get her good owner points up higher with her dog after all. She goes through her purse, pulls out a dog bone shaped biscuit. Smiling, she waves it in front of Kubrick’s face, makes good boy noises, and feeds it to him. Kubrick quickly chews and swallows it. He looks up at her after his tiny meal and barks out a few times, this is his highest seal of approval. 

Adam chuckles at their strange relationship. “You two are going to make me jealous. I might have to make you pay for this breakfast.” Adam sets his silverware down and fiddles with his wedding ring, slowly moving it to the top of his finger, daring her to say something if he takes it off.

“If you don’t stop, I will make all your sugar high cereals sugar free.” She playfully winks at him. The ring ends up sliding back down to the bottom of Adam’s finger faster than his Icarus landings. She gives him a side shoulder shrug, that’s what she thought. Threaten a man’s favorite food and see how fast they will comply with the demands of the person issuing the threat in the end.

“You’re not being very nice.” Adam leans back in his chair with his arms crossed and a very frowning pout is graced on those lips. Just needs the bottom lip to stick out a bit more to really look like a child that has just been scolded for eating too many cookies.

“Excuse me, Spy Boy, I am very nice. Right, Kubrick?” Faridah looks at her dog to see him tilting his head to the side in confusion. She places her purse under the table and pulls out a treat. Treat? There’s a treat in her hand! This means she’s talking about walkies! His selective hearing decides to ponder the sentences as: “Walkies! Right, Kubrick?” Yes! This is where he agrees! He tilts it to the other side, giving out a loud bark. She slips the treat in Kubrick’s mouth when Adam is not looking. 

After the friendly banter, Adam pays for their delicious meals. They leave the small breakfast place to explore the little town. It’s not very big due to the vacation spot they chose, but it doesn’t make it any less homey or interesting. Nearly all the stores outside fronts have a vintage looking feel, and the black and white old London style street signs show it off with a unique curly patterned style and lamps sit on the top. The only thing missing is horses pulling carriages instead of cars being parked by the typical expired parking meters. Thankfully Adam spots his saving grace from the mismatch scenery, a watch store. He ponders a bit, and goes inside, bringing Faridah and Kubrick with him. He starts his pondering by the magazine rack.

Faridah takes this golden opportunity to look at the black and gold watches filling the cases in the back. She makes sure Adam can’t see her. Turning to the watches, she sees they’re sparkling brightly, ticking away nicely, and their price tags are shining to the point where Faridah’s eyeballs are big as saucer plates. She knows Adam will love these shiny pricey items, but maybe there’s something a bit more in her price range. She goes over to the counter to ask one of the clerks to help her, while Adam moves onto some old timely watches. Kubrick decides it’s time to knock over the rack filled with watch magazines. It makes a loud crash with every magazine spilling all over the floor. Adam goes to pick the mess up. The owner gets mad, leaves the back room, comes over to Adam, grabs the magazines out of the aug’s hands, and shoves them all out the door while shouting at them that they’re lucky their mutt didn’t knock over the expensive silver set that’s worth three of their lifetimes!   

Faridah runs a hand through her bangs and sighs. There goes the ultimate gift for her husband! All thanks to a tail wagging dog who is barking and tugging at the leash to make her move forward to follow Adam. She gives a glare to Kubrick and a wagging finger to the face. “Kubrick! Don’t do that again!”

Kubrick’s face drops. He recognizes the mad tone in his mom’s voice. Without another bark his tail is tucked in between his legs and starts walking faster towards his dad. Faridah feels guilty for doing that, but Kubrick must know that he can’t just knock over everything he pleases! Even if he is an animal that probably doesn’t understand what he’s doing! That thought just makes her feel even guiltier, great. Now, she’s going to have to buy Kubrick something extra special to make him feel better instead of herself. So much for sappy engraved cursive “I love you” writing on the inside of a man’s brand-new watch band.

Adam looks down at his sad little dog. He doesn’t really feel as guilty as Faridah does. “Look, Kubrick, when we get back to the hotel I’ll give you the biggest bone I can find at the most expensive pet store! _VOSS Bones_!” That’s not a thing that exists and the augmented man is not guilty at all! He’s just guilty in giving an over pampered dog treats when he should be getting a bop on the nose!    
  
Faridah rolls her eyes and lets out a frustrated groan. Sometimes her husband can be under appreciative of her very-totally-not lying guilty methods of punishing their dog. She didn’t even spank him! Not that she would, the finger wagging is all she needs. “Adam! Is this really necessary?”

They stop in front of a pet store. Adam turns to his wife with a very serious expression on his face. “Yes.”

Faridah gives in after that _expression_. “Let’s go in.” When Adam pulls the matrix motionless features it means there’s no changing his mind when it comes to her and their dog.

The two walks into the fancy looking pet shop. The place is littered with hanging bird cages from a low ceiling. Faridah admires the cages in front of her face that have little bells and toys attached to them. They’re nice looking and have different species of fake birds in them. Opening one of the doors, she pets the feathers of a yellow canary. It feels so life like! Adam must try this. Pulling away, she closes the door, and goes to look for Adam. She finds him in the dog food section looking at different kinds of dog treats.

Adam inspects a bag of treats that are in the shape of fully cooked hamburger meat. “You think Kubrick would like cheeseburger flavored patties?”

Faridah looks down at Kubrick who is tilting his head to the side in curiosity. “Might want to ask him if he approves.”

“Alright.” Adam takes a quick look around him to make sure no one Is watching him, no one is, good. He quietly opens the treat bag, takes out a patty, and feeds it to Kubrick, who happily eats it up in one bite.

Kubrick gives Adam the bark of approval. He likes these! He wants more of these! Kubrick places his paws on his dad’s leg. His tongue is out, tail is a wagging, and a small bark has just been released. The perfect begging combination for any dog loving parents!

Faridah pulls the bag away and seals it shut. “Just one for now, Kubrick. You still need to think about what you did at the watch shop.”

Kubrick whines. His mom is using the disappointment tone again, and he knows what that means. He lies down with a sad look on his face, hoping that his mom will forgive him. He didn’t mean to cause trouble. Being a curious dog sometimes doesn’t pay out for him. Fortunately, his mom is one of those dog lovers that will forgive anything an animal does, he can tell, because she’s feeling guilty right now as it’s written all over her face. She even goes as far as kneeling on the dirty floor to give him a pat on the head and compliment him about how a good boy he is!

“Feel better, boy?” Faridah gets a slobbery lick on the face and a follow up of a happy bark. She wipes the slobber off his face. “There’s the bark I’m looking for!”

Adam follows Faridah once she gets up. “Does this mean you two are friends again?”

She gives Adam a lopsided smile. “We’re always going to be friends, Adam. Plus, I want to show you something that I think you’ll like.”

She takes Adam’s hand and leads him back to the bird cage she admired earlier. Adam’s first reaction is to retract his shades, turn to Faridah, and give her a firm no. He doesn’t like this. He doesn’t like this at all! A bird? A yellow singing canary for that matter? That thing will keep him up during all hours of morning and night! In fact, this thing will ruin baseball season for him! How is he supposed to watch the _Detroit Tigers_ flop another season and not make it to the world series in peace? He can’t! No birds! No way! Not even fake wind-up ones! Faridah will come in and punish him for something he probably won’t remember doing by winding up these things that’ll last four hours! Then he’ll have to watch the game at Pritchard’s place and God forbid he doesn’t want to do that. The man will ask him six thousand questions during a whole inning wondering why people enjoy watching others run around a circle then he’ll have to correct him and say “it’s a diamond, Pritchard! A DIAMOND!”.

“Your face is over reacting.” Faridah takes pinches Adam’s cheeks. “Let’s see a smile and not a ghost expression!” She lets go.

Adam rubs his face, not smiling, and his face hurts. “I have a better idea, but I need you to go back to the hotel.”

Now it’s Faridah’s turn to cross her arms and tilt her head to the side. “Are you trying to get rid of me?”

Adam feels trapped with this and future questions. He’s technically not. He just needs her out of his sight, so he can buy her those chocolate roses! He opens his mouth to think of a quick response but closes it again, he’s leaning. This is going to get him in trouble eventually if he keeps opening and closing his mouth like a fish. Instead, he raises his finger, looks to the side, and sees an advertisement for a dolphin tour later today. He moves behind her, pulls off the ad, and shows it to her by shoving it directly in her face. Faridah is not amused by this. She grabs the paper and starts to read it. It’s for sure a dolphin tour, and it does look like fun…

“Alright. This will do, for now. I’ll bring Kubrick home while you pay for his treats and buy the tickets.” Faridah leaves the store with Kubrick in tow.

Adam lets out a deep sigh. He saved himself there! But a dolphin tour? Adam’s never been around dolphins much less a boat. “Again, why do I get myself into these things?”

Adam walks up to the cashier. He gets a strange look from the guy behind the counter. He couldn’t register it at first, but….he starts his tears of laughter? “Dude! That’s a nice save! My girlfriend would have balled up the paper and shoved it down my pants!”

“You have a strange girlfriend.” Down the pants? Really?

“Says the smooth operator that just tried to get away with opening one of the treat bags.” The cashier points to the camera behind Adam.

He mumbles, “Just ring it up.”


	7. Adam and Faridah's Magical Beach Fun Time - Part 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adam is scaring old people to death.

Dolphins. Dolphins are very…unpleasant and loud. Something Adam has not grown accustomed to outside of work. Blowing water out of their blowholes right into his face when he leans over the rail. Makes for such an inconvenience when one lacks the tools to clean himself with. There is always a good old fashion brooding. Just glare over the water with eyes barely visible above the rails. Water splashes into them too. Adam can’t escape the dreaded laughter and subtle back flips from the fun splash time dolphin. He wishes he could make can tuna out of them. Backing away from the railing he wonders where his wife is? She can be the one who gets wet here by the demon sea creatures! Adam looks all around his sixes to see if she is behind some other splash happy zone people, she is not. Where could she have gone? The boat is not that big, and there’s hardly any other people aboard.

“Where are you?” Adam is talking to no one in particular. He moves to the back of the boat to see if she is there, she is, and she’s not alone. Squinting, he sees someone standing next to her, with an arm around her waist. She doesn’t look like she’s in trouble or scared of the direct contact, doesn’t prevent Adam from being territorial and jealous; especially, when she’s making no attempt to push him away. He tries to make out the outfit she is wearing to see if that’s causing the man to cat whistle inside of his head. She’s wearing a rose-colored bikini top with sunglasses on top of her head, short cut off jean shorts, and rose sandals. A good choice of fashion for the beautiful lady, but this man doesn’t need to be kissing the top of her head or throwing his arms around her waist! He goes over to him and pulls him off his wife before he gives her a kiss.

“Adam! Wait!” Faridah’s sunglasses fall off her head when the man’s hand ricocheted forward due to Adam’s sudden forceful grab. She ignores the material possession and tries to stop Adam from causing the man anymore harm. They don’t need a liability or insurance claim made against them from the owner of the boat! They did sign a waiver before they proceeded on board! If this backfires on them then…well, Sarif will just have to bail the augmented idiot out of jail.

Adam throws the man on the ground, completely ignoring his wife’s orders. “What’s there to explain? He looked mighty comfortable against you.” His CASIE turns on. Breathing rapid, heart beat abnormal, sweaty, look of terror-

“Adam!” Faridah pulls Adam away. “He’s my cousin you idiot! I even introduced him to you before we came on board!”

Before?…Oh, that’s right…she did. He completed had forgotten, too busy brooding over the fact that dolphins were plotting splash attacks against him. He rubs the back of his head in embarrassment and if he could see his blush right now…right. He ignores his inner turmoil and helps the man up, holding out his free hand for a shake to say he’s sorry. The man glares at him, turns to his cousin, and starts spitting out how much of a boob Adam is; and she can find someone much better than him! Preferably a pretty seashell necklace or seagull poop rather than Adam! Adam inclines that he agrees with the guy. Faridah just smacks her forehead in frustration. Her husband is an idiot at times, and this field trip of theirs is now ruined! She goes off somewhere else on the boat in hopes to stare at the pretty fish princesses of the ocean, leaving Adam and the man to sort things out.

Adam stares at him. He’s a few inches taller than him and much prettier. “I’m really sorry about this.”

The man leaves Adam alone after a few eyerolls. He’s not interested in any pathetic apology Adam has to say. Adam now must buy two sets of chocolate roses to show how sorry he is here! Pouting, he leans over the rail and gloomily stares at the dolphins swimming past them. They look like they’re having more fun than he is! They even show their fun by splashing their nasty ocean water in his face…again. He rubs his face on his sleeve, praying that they all get struck by lightning! His prayer is sort of answered when thunder booms above them, dark clouds are rolling in. He can hear the captain over the speaker system saying they have to cut their trip short due to the storm.

“Thank God.” Adam finds his wife near the exit once they’ve docked. He quickly takes her hand to lead her to shelter with a bench. Their hotel is too far for a walk, and the cabs in the area are all taken. They’ll have to wait out the storm. Her cousin is following behind them with an umbrella. Lucky guy! He knows how to bring a plan with him! He opens it and holds it under Faridah, leaving Adam to get soaked.

Faridah feels a little bad for him. “Here Adam.” She holds the umbrella under both. The cousin is not happy, not that he can say anything.

Adam turns behind him, “Your hotel is not too far away from here, right? Can we both crash there instead? I don’t want us to wait under that.” Adam points to the shelter area where a group of people have already claimed dibs. Apparently, Adam didn’t have a plan with the shelter idea. Next time he’ll shove one in his back pocket like this smart guy.  

He nods and soon both are in his hotel room. The couple is thankful that they’re able to get a shower and into dry clothes. Well, dry clothes for Faridah. The man wouldn’t allow Adam into his. Told Adam that he must use the washer and dryer next door or die of a cold. Adam didn’t argue with him. Glaring, he wraps a towel around his waist, and leaves to go put his clothes in the washer. Mortified, Faridah stares at her cousin in disbelief that he made Adam do that! He could go to jail for not being covered up! Afraid be not, the cousin tells Faridah that the laundry room is literally right next door to him, like he said earlier. There’s no way Adam could get in trouble…then they heard screaming and a bottle of bleach being thrown at the wall. He failed to mention that there is another tenant across from him that might have had the same idea.

Adam quickly runs back inside with no towel wrapped around his waist. Looking down, a blush appears on his face, and he quickly runs into the bathroom to get another towel. Coming back out he sees a police officer at the front door talking to Faridah. He quickly darts back inside the bathroom and locks himself in. He doesn’t need any police trouble! Peeking out he sees the man is staring at him through the crack from the front door still, and he looks…familiar? No! No way! No more coincidences! He didn’t need someone he used to work with back at the DPD to see him naked!

“Adam? Is that really you? You’re scaring old ladies now?” The officer smirks. “I remember his rookie days. Good times of pranks and hi-jinks towards our captain! Remember the one time we super glued the toilet seat in his conjoined bathroom, because of his assholery?”

He doesn’t answer. He closes the door again. He didn’t mean to scare the old lady with his hot body, but he needed to get his clothes cleaned and dried! “Go away!”

“I will after I write this citation for being nude in public.” The officer pulls out his pad and starts writing out the ticket.

Adam gets an idea, a very bad idea. “If you give me that ticket then I will release the video of you being naked and streaking through the station at the Christmas Party!”  

He stops writing and puts the pad away. “Sorry to bother everyone tonight. Please have a pleasant evening and let the old woman rest. She doesn’t need her heart monitor going off again.” He leaves, not before giving a death glare at the bathroom door. Adam feels that glare at the back of his head.

Faridah knocks on the bathroom door. “Adam? Your scary friend is gone. You can come out now!”

Adam slowly opens the door, poking his head out just to make sure. Yes, his wife is not lying. He really is gone! Adam is safe and a thank you to old blackmail! The dirtiest of tricks! The officer can complain and ride it all the way back to _Sarif Industries_ if he wishes! Still, Adam must always be careful and on guard. He’s sure his old acquaintance will let everyone know back in Detroit about what had transpired here today. They’ll be watching him like hawks, waiting to give him a ticket for the slightest thing. Coughing the wrong way? A ticket! Accidentally stepping on a crack, breaking someone’s mother’s back? A ticket! See? His worries are not over yet! His face will be plastered on every dart board in each office, warrants for scaring old people to death will be out there on vandalized walls, and the radio…oh God the policeman’s radio will crack jokes about pants and super glue! That will get him arrested if the captain ever hears it!

“Adam? You’re starting to panic.” Faridah places a gentle hand on Adam’s shoulder. Giving it a rub. “Do you need a _Hypostem_? I brought two along with me just in case we need them.”

He stops his wife. “No need. I am just….over thinking things again.”

“You do that when you grow quiet.” Faridah squeezes his hand, bringing the augment to her face. “Stop doing that. You scare people when you do.”

Adam is about to respond till he hears her cousin laugh. He turns to glare at him. Way to ruin the moment…again! He crosses his arms and sits down in a chair. Faridah comes over to him and rubs his back, letting him know that she’s here if he needs her. Right now, Adam just needs his clean clothes and for the rain to stop, so they can leave this horrible hotel. He stares at the clock on the side table to see that they should be done by now. Getting up he turns to Faridah and pleads with her to go get his clothes and place them in the dryer. Hands are folded in a prayer stance, and he’s ready to get on his knees.

“Alright. I will go out there and put your clothes in the dryer.” Faridah leaves the room, goes over to the laundry aisle, and sees an elderly woman standing next to the washer where she assumes Adam’s clothes are. She goes over to her to see what’s up.

“Oh? You’re not the handsome guy from earlier!” The elderly woman lets out a giggle and fans herself.

Faridah doesn’t even know what to say to that. Here they were dealing with the police over a woman nearly having a heart attack only to find out she’s perfectly fine and in a state of puppy love. The only thing that cunning only woman is hurt by is her own libido. Faridah wants to scream and shake the old woman for putting her through this mess and missing out on embarrassing stories! Instead she kindly moves her to the side to get her husbands clothes.  

“Does the buffed gentleman have a name?” She’s acting sweet, too sweet. She doesn’t need to swoon in on anyone’s husbands! Faridah keeps a kind smile on her face and…chooses to stuff everything in the dryer and quickly leave. She didn’t even notice the woman opening the dryer door.

“She’s going to have to get these eventually!” She lets out an evil cackle. Maybe the hot man will come this time!

Some time passes, and it’s not the hot augmented man that comes to get his clothes, but the even hotter non-augmented cousin. “Oh my! Did you get an upgrade, young man?”

The cousin never asked for this, and will make Adam pay…somehow.  


	8. Adam and Faridah's Magical Beach Fun Time - Part 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adam listens to music and Faridah gets a bouquet of palm leaves, she looks at them, and back up, glaring, and...throws them at the author when she notices that nothing has been said about thanking the people for reading this entire time! Ok! Ok! I get it! I thank everyone who enjoyed this story! It means everything to me! (She nods in approval)...But really, thank you so much! This really does mean the world to me!

The rain has stopped, clouds are out, and seagulls are back to poop on people’s heads. Nothing is holding them back the couple anymore. The two make their leave and start their long journey back to their hotel. It’s early and no cabs were to be seen. That’s fine with them. Adam takes Faridah’s hand into his, just to make sure they’re going in the same direction. Faridah didn’t seem to mind keeping Adam grounded this way. She didn’t feel like getting lost anyways, and Adam’s HUD is a perfect map. Weird to follow the GPS instructions in your husbands head though. Even if it’s quite convenient! More spouses need this augmentation, then nobodies’ pride would get hurt if someone doesn’t want to stop and ask for directions! It’s a win-win for the people that get bothered by the ignorance.  

“Adam? You’re off in your own little world again.” Faridah squeezes his hand…hard. Causing him to jump a little from the odd pain sensation.

“Yeah.” Adam takes her hand again. “We’re not playing footsies with hands.” He presses his fingers against Faridah’s palm. Making her jump from the tickling alloy sensation.

Their hands are in contrast but still entwined, rings clicking against one another. The two smiles are envisioned, neither noticing as they walk on ahead. Only to stop when a person passes in front of them, holding a guitar case. Faridah thinks this is a perfect opportunity to catch some music before breakfast. She turns around, drags Adam with her as they follow the musician. He didn’t seem to notice, sets up shop along a town square. Sitting on one of the low to the ground cement walls surrounding shrubbery. The couple stop a few feet in front him and watches him unpack, Faridah showing the most eagerness. The musician pulls out an acoustic guitar and some beige looking leaves that stretch far and long. He starts moving them around a fake green stem, assembling a beautiful rose. Adam is in awe! This is exactly what he’s looking for! It’s not chocolate, but this can last a lot longer than some simple edible arrangement.

Adam lets go of Faridah’s hand and moves over to the guy, wallet opened in his hand. “How much?”

The musician looks at the credit chips that are buried in the wallet. He seemed a little displeased. “Do those hold any form of small bills? I don’t ask for much. Two credits at most or whatever you like to donate. They’re just thinned-out palm leaves.”

Faridah and Adam give each other a look. How peculiar. Adam turns back to the man, scans over his attire. Now just noticing the holes in the musician’s jeans, and the unkempt beard and hair. Adam puts his wallet away, having a different idea in mind. He tells the musician he’ll be back. He takes Faridah to a homey breakfast joint. He orders a full-on breakfast to go: bacon, eggs, cheese grits, sausage, biscuit, and a large cup of coffee with sugar and cream on the side. They return to the musician, seems he’s a bit angry, possibly because he’s hungry. Adam offers the bag of food and coffee to the man, hoping the guy takes it.

The musician stares at the bag offering. “I like grape jelly on my biscuit.”

Adam investigates the bag to see if there’s jelly. There is! He pulls it out, along with plastic utensils for him to spread the jelly on. The musician gives him a puzzled expression, he’s not amused of convinced. He goes back to his rose making. Adam holds onto his patience, he must remember what this guy is going through. He shoves the bag into the musician’s hands, causing him to drop the rose. Faridah bends down, picks it up, and rests it next to the empty guitar case. She sits down next to him, opening the bag, and pulls out the grape jelly.

“Thanks…” The musician takes the jelly covered biscuit, takes a bite…smiles. He seems to be happier. “I’ll make a dozen of these for the pretty lady.”

The musician shoves a piece of bacon in his mouth and gets to work. Faridah and Adam leave the man to it, so they can go take care of themselves. But first, they need to check up on Kubrick. They manage to signal down a cab to take them back to their hotel. Kubrick greets them at the door, instantly jumping on his mom’s legs with the tail wagging. Faridah bends down so Kubrick can lick her face. After a few licks the dog is satisfied. He runs to the food bowl and barks. It’s empty! Adam quickly goes to get some dog food, dry chicken flavored. Faridah takes her time to change out the water bowl and taking Kubrick out to go to the bathroom.

Kubrick is one happy overgrown puppy! Coming back inside he goes over to the food bowl and starts eating his delicious chow! Tail still wagging like crazy! Once done he goes over to the leash, takes it into his mouth, and goes over to his mom. He wants his walkies! Faridah laughs. She’s more than happy to give the puppy what he wants even if she really wants to get out of these clothes and into a nice hot bath. Maybe the musician will take pity on her and make a dog bone out of those palm leaves. There’s always hope…and coffee. Lots of coffee when they come back.

“Thinking about coffee?” Adam hands her a cup. “On the go. Let’s go.”

“If you intentionally rhyme again, so help me God I will mess up your hair.” Faridah teases him by fluffing it up a little anyways.

Adam pouts. “You do that anyways.”

Faridah puffs her cheeks out. “You love me for it”

The gang makes it back to the musician to see he’s just finishing up the dozen roses and his food is all gone. This gives Adam some relief that the guy didn’t want to hit him in the face with some cheese grits when they returned. He goes over to the man, takes the offering or roses, and hands them to Faridah. Faridah quirks her eyebrow at them, pretends to sniff them, and compliment the chef on how much of a delicious bouquet this is! He bows in return. Adam pulls out his wallet and hands him a credit chip worth 100 dollars. The man is hesitant to take it, Adam insists. He wants to do something nice for the man even if it doesn’t seem like much. He takes it.

“Thanks. I can finally get a new pair of pants.” The man pockets the credit chip, picks up his guitar, tunes it a bit, and starts playing a smooth song.

Adam and Faridah really like the melody. They go to a nearby bench, sit down, and takes time to listen to the song. Both lost in thought, thinking about what they want to do today, and Kubrick is thinking about a juicy, giant milk bone.

The tune soon grows quiet and the man is gone. How long have they been out here?

Faridah turns to Adam. “I’m thinking about doing nothing for the rest of the day. Do you want to join me?”

Adam looks at her. “I like that. I recorded the guys music on my phone if you want to listen to it whenever.”

Faridah jokes, “I thought you use your brain to record.”  

“Only highly classified playbacks allowed in this brain.” Adam taps his head.

Faridah leans against him, smiling. He leans right back, holding her. The two in each other’s arms, forever at peace with one another, and nothing can break them apart.

Bark! Bark!

Accept when Kubrick jumps on top of the bench and demands someone to pet him and call him a good boy!

Bark! Bark!

Yes, Kubrick, Adam and Faridah think you’re a good boy!

Bark!

A good boy and good life indeed.


End file.
